Lobby Card is a form of advertising which revolutionized the look of graphics. Lobby Cards were sent out by the publicity departments of the film studios to film distributors across different territories, in sets of eight to twenty images reflecting the content of a newly released movie. The cards featured various iconic scenes of the film, or colorful illustrations of the movie title and the names of leading actors and actresses. Their purpose: to lure the movie-going public into theaters across the country.

As movie-making and movie-selling became more sophisticated (even before sound), Lobby Cards became more lavish, imaginative and dimensional, using kinetic designs that surrounded images; often these border designs were more interesting than the photographs they decorated. The cards grew to 11X14” (this became the standard size) and were offered in sets of no less than eight exciting scenes for the average film, and as many as sixteen for the new super productions.

As printing techniques evolved, so did the flair and imagination with which these cards were designed. The selection of the images, the imaginative artwork bordering the images, the creatively hand-tinted subjects and the brilliant colors, combined to create a piece of artwork that conveyed the mood of the film more eloquently than the images selected for use.

Lobby cards are rarely seen today, but remain highly sought after by collectors of movie ephemera.